"Come on in," Ann mumbled, fighting a nervous frog in her throat as Roland knocked on the passenger side window.
Leaning over to unlock the door, Ann recoiled slightly as the 6 foot 4 inch, 230 pound man opened the door and sat down beside her.
"Beautiful night," Roland said as he stepped in and closed the door.
"Yes... a little cool for June though," Ann replied, getting even more jittery as Roland sealed the two inside the same cramped quarters.
"Your husband know you went out?" Roland asked casually.
"No," Ann nervously countered. "Didn't want to bother him during his poker game.. he's usually home by 1 or so... I should be lights out asleep by the time he stumbles in anyway. "
"He drink?" Roland probed, trying to make conversation.
"Just occasionally.. nothing bad though. You?" Ann answered, then inquired.
"Not anymore... funny how 14 years in prison will make you adjust your habits," Roland smiled, his relief to be a free man clearly apparent in his hearty belly laugh.
"There's that word again, 'prison', "Ann told herself. "Will I ever be able to live that down?"
The two sat there, only a foot and a half apart in the dark, twiddling their thumbs, making small talk and waiting for the other to make the next move.
"I guess maybe we could go down into town and talk over a cup of coffee... maybe," Ann offered as she nervously tapped her fingers on the motionless steering wheel.
"I'm kinda low on funds right now, "Roland shot back honestly. "Pastor Evans says payday isn't until next Friday. "
"Oh that's not a problem.. I've got some... " Ann started before telepathically connecting with Roland, both sensing that being seen together out in public, especially after dark, probably wasn't the best for either of them.
The awkward silence between the two quickly returned as Roland stole a few nervous glances to his left, sizing up the petite blonde sitting next to him. Each time however his gaze would linger too long in the dark, Ann would tentatively look over at him, causing Roland to divert his eyes as the woman shyly surveyed him as well.
Silently taking turns sizing each other up, a strange arousal bubbled underneath Roland and Ann's skin as the tension between the two grew. Ann was able to steal several glances up at Roland's side facial profile while he was staring straight ahead and as she committed his chiseled facial features to memory, Ann tried comparing the face she saw now to the one she testified under oath was that of the man who had raped her years earlier.
The face she saw in that dim light however, was clearly not the one of that man. The dearth of light in the car at that moment was eerily similar to the light in her apartment all those years ago. Seeing Roland in that lighting was what her rational psyche needed to do and after discovering he wasn't the man she thought he was, Ann's worst fears, of taking away 14 years of an innocent man's life, were validated. Unable to keep the floodgates of her overwhelming guilt in check, Ann started to sob uncontrollably as the darkness, both internally and externally, seemed to envelope her.
Roland didn't know what had triggered such an emotional display but he felt an immediate need to console the bawling woman beside him. Casting his left arm out and wrapping it around Ann's trembling shoulders, Roland hugged her gently as he dabbed at her tears with a tissue that he had in his pocket.
The streams of Ann's tears quickly soaked the tissue, coating Roland's fingers with the salty traces of Ann's disheveled state. As he rubbed his hand up and down the softness of Ann's cheek, Roland watched with Fatherly patience as the broken woman tried collecting her jumbled emotions.
Sitting there staring into Ann's glazed blue eyes, Roland felt an irresistible pull come from the married woman's body as if she was a magnet drawing his metal closer.
The cloak of darkness in the Camry's front seat provided a dreamlike background as Roland leaned his head in to kiss Ann Thomas right below her earlobe. Ann seemed to become paralyzed the instant Roland's soft lips pressed against her tear-stained flesh.
Goosebumps rose over Ann's entire body and the car seat beneath her felt as if it had disappeared as a floating sense of hypnotic weightlessness surrounded her frozen body. Shock and disbelief sizzled Ann's every nerve ending as Roland's mouth painted a heated swath down her cheekbone, over her delicate white chin and finally against her own hungry lips.
Ann's mental databank shut down as the towering black man beside her kissed her flushly on the mouth, his fervant lips working feverishly as if he was sucking her will to resist right out of her.
"Nooo... staaa... pllleee," Ann weakly muttered, moving her head backwards on the headrest behind her, breaking the oral connection with Roland.
"I'm... what am I doing... I'm ma... married.. I have kids... I... aaahhhhh, "Ann delusionally mouthed.
Roland listened patiently, showing a great deal of silent empathy for Ann's predicament. Looking the blonde woman dead in the eyes, he finally asked,"Then why are you here, Ann?"
"I couldn't stay away," Ann crypticly answered before she could stop herself, as if truth serum had been shot into her viens.
Hearing the blatantly honest and embarrassing admission, Roland wrapped his left arm around Ann's shoulders tighter and pressed his lips back against hers, this time feeling the married blonde return his kiss with unmitigated certainty.